Kevin Mullaney.com

Photos from Hump Night, June 10, 2013

Here is some of what you missed from last week’s Hump Night. Make sure to be there tomorrow night to see Saurin Choksi and Honeybuns!

Kyle Reinhard

Oopey Mason

Will Meinen

Kevin Mullaney

Dan de Dios & Phil Caron from Delicately Seasoned

Caitlin Wilson & Jeff Jackel from Delicately Seasoned

Grant Grieshaber & Alex Romero from Delicately Seasoned

Jeff Jackel & Sara Cardon from Delicately Seasoned

Alex Frenkel & Danielle Bluford from Pancakes Tonight!

Pancakes Tonight!

Richard Scruggs & Alex Hanpeter from Richard & the Kids

Bethanie John & Kyle Reinhard from Richard & the Kids

Jude Tedmori & Alex Hanpeter from Richard & the Kids

Kyle, Alex & Jude from Richard & the Kids

Announcing the punchline contest winner

Cover Stories from Nerdologues

Mia McCullough

Sketch by Sex Puppet

The Eninger Trio

Jeff Hansen

Mullaney Chain with Zach Zimmerman

Mullaney Chain with Willie Myers and Molly Todd

Mullaney Chain with Blythe Roberson

Most of these photos were taken by Oopey Mason.

Improv scene templates: Third Wheel

We tried this template at the end of a rehearsal this week a couple of times. It was a pretty fun one, although I think there is such an inherent game to it, it’s almost short form. It’s a variation on the non sequitur scenes I described a few weeks ago, but this one is for three people:

Three people start a scene: You can have them choose their own activity, but I had them just having lunch or dinner, sitting at a table.
Two people have a conversation: The first two people who talk respond to each other directly and talk about the same topic. The third person just listens to their conversation.
Third person responds with a non sequitur: Eventually, the third person chimes in, but talks about something completely different from the other two.
The first two people continue their conversation: Whenever the first two people talk, they are talking about their original conversation and whenever the third person talks they are talking about their own topic. Everyone should listen to each other and should react honestly to how it feels to have this kind of conversation.

From here, the scene could go in lots of different ways. Perhaps the conversations could merge, or the third wheel could keep trying to merge the conversations and failing. Since we only did it a couple of times, I’m not sure what all the variations could look like.

I’m realizing that a major theme in my improv thinking these days is how important surprises are. The dialog of improv scenes is often way to linear and gets stuck on whatever topic the players start with. Non sequitur is one tool to fight this tendency.

Please let me know in the comments if you try this and what your thoughts are.

Also, please take a look at my other posts on scene templates.

Hump Night lineup for June 12th

Hump Night returns this week with another great lineup of standup, improv, music, and storytelling.

7:30 – The Improv Hour

The improv hour features teams of players coached by Kevin Mullaney

Pancakes Tonght! with Will Meinen, Oopey Mason, David Prouty, Danielle Bluford, Shana Weinstein and Alex Frenkel
Richard and the Kids with Richard Scruggs, Jude Tedmori, Kyle Reinhard, Alex Hanpeter, Bethanie John, Matt Pina
Delicately Seasoned with Grant Grieshaber, Sara Cardon, Caitlin Wilson, Alex Romero, Jeff Jackel, Phil Caron

8:30 – The Variety Hour

Standup, storytelling, music, sketch and occasionally some improv.

Music by Andy Eninger
Standup by Mia McCullough
Standup by Jeff Hansen
Sketch by Sex Puppet
Music by Cover Stories

9:45 – Mullaney Chain

Kevin invites a great improvisor to play, who invites a third, who invites a fourth who invites one more. This weeks guests include:

Zach Zimmerman
Willie Myers
Blythe Roberson
Molly Todd

Please RSVP on Facebook!

Improv scene templates: We Need to Talk

Last night I was working with one of the groups that perform at Hump Night. We crafted a template together that was producing some wonderful scenes. The template is a little more complicated than scene templates I’ve written about before. It took us a few steps to get there during the rehearsal. So rather than jumping to the end, I’ll walk through the steps we took.

Step 1: One Person Silent

I’ve been working a lot lately with one person silent scenes. This was first explained to me by Jill Bernard from Huge Theater in Minneapolis (IRC Podcast 2010-02-15 Jill Bernard). The exercise is very simple. You do a two person scene where one person doesn’t speak. All they do is listen, and all they have to do is listen.

Continue reading “Improv scene templates: We Need to Talk”

I could use a little help

Hey there,

Five months ago, I started a variety show called Hump Night. If you follow me, you’ve probably heard about it. You may have come to see it once or twice. Maybe you have even performed at Hump Night. Well, if you like Hump Night, if you have been getting something out of it, I could use a little help.

The deal I have with Strawdog is pretty good. They don’t charge me upfront for the space. Instead, they have a bar in the back of the room. They have a certain minimum that they’d like the bar to make and if they don’t reach that, then I have to make up the difference. Many times, that hasn’t been a problem. Between the donations and the bar, I haven’t had to pay a lot each week. And in the beginning, the students who were performing were essentially subsidizing the rest of the night. I was using part of the money from their tuition to pay for the space.

However, some nights it has cost a lot to run the show. Sometimes we don’t sell much at the bar and we don’t take enough in donations and I end up spending more to keep Hump Night going, then I earn for coaching the teams that perform there.

So there are a few things I could do.

I could search for another venue, one that would be less expensive. There are not a lot of venues out there that are as nice as Strawdog and less expensive though. Plus I do really like the location.
I could try to charge for the show. But I really prefer the donation model for this show.
I could do better at promoting the show. This is true and I’m working on it. It’s a challenge to get people there and I’m constantly trying to figure out the most time-effective ways to get the word out.
I could close the show. This is an option. I currently have extended the show through July, and if I can’t figure out a way to support the show, this is the likely outcome.

So what can you do? Maybe you perform at Hump Night, maybe you have come to see some shows. If you get something out of the show and you want to see it continue past July, there are some things you can do.

When you come see the show, have a beer or two. Every dollar you spend at the bar is as good as throwing a dollar into the bucket.
If you don’t drink, please put a few dollars in the bucket.
If you perform, try to recruit one or two people to come each week.

The thing is with the number of people participating in Hump Night in some fashion it shouldn’t be hard to make enough to keep it going. And I don’t mind pitching in a few bucks myself.

I think though, if I’m asking for money so directly, I’m going to take a leap here myself. It’s a small one, but I’m going to change how the donations work. I think people aren’t really sure what happens to the donations and so they are a little reluctant to give. So every show, I’m going to give half the donations to the performers in the Variety Hour. It probably won’t be a huge amount, but I have a hunch that if I give away half, the audience will be more apt to throw some money in the bucket. And this new policy starts tonight.

See you at Hump Night!

-Kevin

Hump Night: May 29th, 2013

Hump Night returns this week with another great lineup of standup, improv, music, and storytelling.

7:30 – The Improv Hour

The improv hour features teams of players coached by Kevin Mullaney

Team TBA: Will Meinen, Oopey Mason, David Prouty, Danielle Bluford, Shana Weinstein (and more to come)
Richard and the Kids: Richard Scruggs, Jude Tedmori, Kyle Reinhard, Alex Hanpeter, Bethanie John, Matt Pina, Matt Visconage
Delicately Seasoned: Lisa Akroush Grant Grieshaber, Sara Cardon, Caitlin Wilson, Matthew Fenton, Alex Romero, Jeff Jackel, Phil Caron

8:30 – The Variety Hour

Standup, storytelling, music, sketch and occasionally some improv.

Sketch by Katherine and Joe
Standup by Kris Simmons
Standup by Alexandra Tsarpalas
A story by Greg Collozo
A special appearance by Lady Love

9:45 – Mullaney Chain

Kevin invites a great improvisor to play, who invites a third, who invites a fourth who invites one more. This week’s guests:

Kevin Reome
Chris Day
Jacqueline Stone
Abby McEnany

RSVP on Facebook

PAY WHAT YOU WANT – Donations appreciated.

Improv scene templates: Non Sequitur

This scene template is a particularly fun one. It feels a little like a trick, but it can have surprisingly delicious results. It starts very much like the Activity to Point of View scene template that I described on Wednesday. One person enters and starts an activity and another person joins that activity. But when the players speak, it’s completely different.

One person starts a conversation: The first person says 1 or 2 statements about whatever topic they like. They can be describing something that happened to them, their state of mind or sharing their opinion on some topic.
Second person says something which is a non sequitur: The second person listens to what the first person says, but responds by talking about something completely different. Again they should use statements and avoid questions (unless they are rhetorical). If one person wants to talk about their job, the other wants to talk about their heartburn. If one person wants to talk about their sex life, the other wants to talk about Star Trek. They do not even need to verbally acknowledge what the other person says.
Each player continues their topic of conversation: When the first player responds, they again talk about their original topic. And when the second player speaks, they are talking about their topic. It’s as if each person is doing a different monolog and pausing as the other one speaks.
Pick one conversation or merge them: After bouncing back and forth between the two topics of conversation for a few lines, one of the players should switch to talk about the other person’s topic. Or in some cases, the player will realize why these two topics go together and merge them. Don’t force it, wait until a satisfying impulse occurs to you about how to merge them. The scene continues forward at this point like any other scene.

Some things to keep in mind:

When the other person is speaking, you are definitely listening and considering what they are saying, you just decide to return to your topic of conversation when it’s your time to speak.
Although you might expect this to be disjointed, it actually implies a strong connection between the characters. Non sequiturs happen all the time in real conversation, but they usually happen between people who know each other well and have a history.
Force yourself to keep the topics separate for at least 4 lines each when you practice this. And keep each line relatively brief. 1 or 2 full statements are plenty. Play with variations, if one player is saying a lot when it’s their turn, maybe the other person only says a few words when it’s their turn.
Once you have practiced this for a while, you can add non sequiturs to the middle of the scene as well. Let the conversation merge and then a little while later bring up something completely different as abruptly as you can. Resist the temptation to segue smoothly from one topic to another.

Let me know in the comments if this is clear. I am tempted to over explain and add examples, even when they are not necessary. So let me know if it’s needed.

This is the third post in a series on scene templates for improv scenes. Check out Part 1 – You Statements and Part 2 – Activity to Point of View.

Improv scene templates: Activity to Point of View

One person starts an activity, a second player joins the activity, the first person stakes out a point of view and the second person yes-and that point of view.

On Monday I posted a template for beginning a scene that I called You Statements. Of course, you statements can be used effectively at nearly any point in a scene. Come to a dead end? Observe your partner and make a you statement. Notice your scene partner having a specific reaction to something? Make a you statement. Feel disconnected from your scene partner? You statement.

But this is not the only good way to start a scene. Here is another one I like.

One person starts an activity: Enter the stage and begin a simple activity. One that implies a specific location is always good. Examples are washing dishes, eating a meal, working on a car, folding laundry, typing at a desk, reading a book.
Second person joins the activity: Enter the space very soon after the first person settles into their activity. And start doing the same activity with them. Don’t just do something complimentary, really do whatever they are doing. If they are sitting and reading a book, do the same. If the first person is painting a picture, set up an easel next to them. Don’t be their teacher or their model. Do the same thing.*
First person stakes out a point of view: This can be about anything, but should not be about the activity at hand. Do one thing and talk about something else. Talk about anything under the sun and state your (character’s) point of view about it.
Yes-and the point of view: The second person should respond as if they agree and then in some small way add to the point of view.
Continue yes-anding the point of view: You don’t have to heighten the hell out of it. Just add some detail. Add some specifics. Build the point of view one step at a time with your scene partner.

From here, the scene can go in lots of directions. Sometimes the point of view will continue to build and eventually become so strange that one character peels off and decides that they don’t feel the same as the first. Sometimes they will share the same point of view throughout the scene. The way to keep this scene fresh is to keep bringing up new things to talk about and see how the point of view applies to these other topics of conversation.

This scene template can also work with you statements. Instead of stating a point of view in step three, say a you statement about your scene partner and yes-and from there. Observing behavior, you statements, stating points of view, emotional responses and yes-anding are all building blocks that you can mix and match to make a great scene.

^{* I really do mean do the same thing. I’m sure you realize that you can make a perfectly good scene from one person reading the paper and another person sweeping the floor. Or if one person is working on a car, another person can be writing a sonnet nearby. But your first instinct should be to join the activity always. Subtle complimentary activities can work for the exercise however. For instance, if one person is washing the dishes and another person is drying them.}

Improv scene templates: You Statements

Scene templates can be very useful for improv scenes. It’s good to have a simple game plan or strategy to help start a scene. And it’s good to practice those strategies over and over so that they become second nature. There is no single right template. Just like there are lots of good ways to begin a chess game or lots of different successful plays in football or basketball, there are lots of good ways to begin a scene.

Here is one that I like.

Enter simultaneously

Enter the stage at the same time. Choose some spot on the stage to be and go there. No need to preplan any emotion or character or situation. Just enter, notice your scene partner and stop.

Look at your scene partner

Take a few moments to just look at your scene partner. You don’t need to turn your whole body to them, but look at them for at least five or six seconds.

Make a ‘You Statement’

One of you, make an observation about the other person’s behavior or emotions. Keep it simple. Don’t invent anything, just look at them and say what you see. For example:

“You are annoyed with me.”
“You have a mischievous smile on your face.
“You are radient.”
“You’re in a good mood.”

Yes-and the observation

If your scene partner says you look suspicious, be that. If they think you look happy, be that. Respond and behave in whatever way they have observed.

Talk about that behavior

For the next few lines, just talk about that behavior. Don’t worry about the circumstances of the scene. They will tumble out when you are ready. If the first observation is that one character looks depressed, both players should talk about the player who is depressed for a few lines. Eventually you will realize who you are and what you are doing.

Obviously, this covers just the first 20 or 30 seconds of the scene and there are lots of ways to go from here. But that simple act of observing your scene partner and caring enough to call out their behavior instantly connects the two players. The audience is drawn into moments like this. It’s always interesting. Nothing clever is needed, because humans are fascinated with human behavior.

As you get better at this, you can probably shorten the amount of time you wait before you say something. Eventually you may want to force yourself to make the observation quickly instead of waiting.

Behavior is a Game, A Workshop with Kevin Mullaney

Saturday, June 1, 2013
11:00 am – 3:00 pm

At Upstairs Gallery
5219 N Clark
Third Floor
Chicago

A Workshop with Kevin Mullaney

Behavior is a Game

This is a four hour workshop with CIF Artistic Director Kevin Mullaney.

Observe your scene partner, call out their behavior, respond impulsively and let the circumstances tumble out to make a game.

Some of the most fun games to play in a scene come from the emotional interplay of the characters. One player’s behavior inspires an impulsive response in their partner. Patterns of behavior emerge and help form behavior-based games. Justifications bubble up from your unconscious to make sense of what’s happening which leads to more ideas of how to play the game.

For more information about what this class will be about, take a look at the following essays:

This one day intensive class is open to improvisors of all levels.